Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (39 page)

Chapter
Thirty-One

Austin

I
walked into the office before sunrise the next morning only to find Bax already
sitting at his desk tapping away at the keyboard. Walter Edward Baxter III had
been my best friend for more than a decade. He hated his given name, so when
we'd started college he told everyone that his name was Bax and then refused to
elaborate. That mystery was only part of Bax's appeal.

"Hey, boss," he smiled. Bax had
an unsettling way of always looking like he was ready to either head to a
formal dinner or the beach. His five o'clock shadow had been infamous in
college and he'd cultivated a look between Hollywood star and washed up surfer
that never failed to make people ask if they knew him from somewhere else. He
was good-natured about it, but he never gave much away. It didn't help that he
dressed like a fashion model wearing Zegna suits without ties and loafers
without socks, even in the winter. On the upside, when I was with him, I knew I
could safely fade into the background and operate virtually unnoticed. I think
that was one of the reasons we'd been best friend since our freshman year of college.
I let him have the spotlight and he let me hide out in the shadows.

"Morning, what's up?" I replied.

"Just wanted to get in early and get
the research on the Australian site done before you meet with Daniel and the
gang," he said.

"How did you-" I stopped. Of
course, he would have had Johanna prepped to let him know about anything going
on with Daniel. Bax would never let me face the den of lions alone and
unprotected.

"So, I did some digging around and
found out that Daniel has been in contact with some guys who are well known for
sabotaging construction sites," he began with a grim look. "But what
I can't figure out is how he's connected to them. There's nothing on the
servers linking him to any messages or information that these guys would have,
and I've had the phone company scan his cell service for any exchange of
messages. I'm coming up empty."

"If he's behind this, he's doing an
excellent job of covering his tracks," I agreed. "The question is
whether he is actually behind the rumors or if this is another problem
entirely."

"That's what disturbs me," Bax
said as he rubbed his chin with one hand. "It's a rumor that has all the
hallmarks of being started by his gang, but there's nothing linking them
directly to it. If we falsely accuse him of interfering with the project, then
we get treated as the petulant outsiders who know nothing about the
business."

"And if we don't respond to it, then
we're the idiots who let a billion-dollar project collapse," I finished.
"Either way, we lose and he wins."

"Precisely," Bax nodded as he
tapped a few keys and waited for a screen to materialize. "My gut tells me
that this is by design."

"So, how do you want to play
this?" I asked as he stared intently at the screen of his computer reading
something of great interest. "Bax?"

"Huh? Oh yeah," he said
distractedly. "Let me do a little more digging and get back to you,
okay?"

"I have to meet with them at
eight," I said. "So, don't wait too long to let me in on this little
idea of yours, okay?"

"I won't," he said waving me
off. "I promise!"

I walked out of his office and down the
hall toward my own wondering what Bax would find and whether we could hold off
a hostile takeover of Marks Enterprises with the information.

#

An
hour later, Bax came striding into my office with a handful of printouts and a
frown on his face saying, "You need to get on a flight back to Sydney now,
boss."

"Why? What's going on?" I asked
as I took the papers from him and scanned the pictures. There were workers
milling about in front of the construction site holding signs that looked like
picket protest signs. "What is this?"

"It looks like they're getting ready
to go on strike," he said.

"I see that," I shot back.
"I mean, what's going on? Why are they striking?"

"I don't know," Bax replied as
he ran a hand through his hair. "I can't get anyone to pick up the phone
at the main office and the foreman doesn't have a cell phone."

"Buck promised me that they weren't
going to strike," I said as I looked the rest of the photos. I didn't
recognize any of the men in the shots, but then I hadn't been on the job site
that long the day I addressed them, so it didn't surprise me.

"Well, he’s obviously lost control of
the crew," he replied. "You need to get over there and stop this,
Austin. If this project gets suck, we are going to be in deep financial trouble
and the rest of the company will suffer. We can't let this get delayed and we
most definitely do not need the bad press that will result from a strike."

"This is bullshit!" I shouted.
"We're not doing anything wrong over there and they have no reason to
strike!"

"Then, hop on a plane and get over
there and stop it," Bax said quietly. "Austin, we don't have a choice
here. You have to go."

"Fine," I sighed, knowing that
he was right. "Get the jet ready to fly. Pull a first class crew off one
of the commercial flights and get them ready to go by noon."

I looked down at the photos again as an
image of Emily standing in the aisle of the cabin popped into my mind. If I was
going to have to go back to Sydney, I wanted another chance with her, too.

"Hey, Bax?" I called.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Call and get the crew that flew us
over last week," I said in an even tone, trying not to give anything away.

"Pretty girl, eh?" Bax grinned.

"No, they were just efficient, and I
liked that," I told him, trying to hang on to my pride.

"I got it, I'll take care of
it," he said with a grin that told me he knew what was up, but that was
willing to let me hang on to the illusion of efficiency.

I nodded at him and then went back to
preparing for my meeting with Daniel. I wasn't about to let him know he was on
the verge of gaining the upper hand.

Chapter
Thirty-Two

Emily

I
had spent a restless night tossing and turning as I thought about what my
mother had said and wondered why she was so intent on pushing me to hang on to
a marriage that was obviously falling apart. When I finally fell asleep, I was
tossed into a sea of dreams that had me ping ponging between two shores in an
attempt to find a calm bit of water. Off in the distance, I heard a ship's
distress signal sounding again and again.

I surfaced from my dream to find my cell
phone ringing on the nightstand near my head.

"Hello?" I answered in a sleepy
voice.

"Ms. Warner?" asked a deep voice
on the other end.

"Speaking," I mumbled.

"Ms. Warner, this is Mr. Baxter from
Austin Marks' office," said the voice. I shook my head and propped myself
up on my arm.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" I
replied suddenly very awake.

"Ms. Warner, Mr. Marks needs you to
be part of the crew on a private flight to Sydney leaving at noon today,"
Mr. Baxter said. "I'm sending a car for you right now. Can you be ready in
one hour?"

"Yes, yes, of course. Let me give you
the address of where I am. Is everything all right?" I said, explaining
where I was.

"I'll let Mr. Marks explain,"
Mr. Baxter said. "Please pack for a five-day layover and be ready to prep
the private plane when you arrive on the tarmac."

"Of course, I will," I said as I
looked around the room and realized that I hadn't unpacked from the last trip
or even done any laundry.

"Very well, the car will be there in
one hour. Please be ready to leave," he said before disconnecting.

I looked at the phone for a moment before
I got up and yelled, "Mom! I need help!" as I got out of bed and
began unzipping my luggage and throwing things into the middle of the room.

It wasn't more than a minute before I my
mother rushed into the room with a worried look on her face.

"I just got a call from the executive
in charge of Mr. Marks' travel, and I have to be ready to be on a private
flight in an hour," I said as I held up two handfuls of dirty laundry.
"Can you wash and dry these for me?"

"What in the world?" my mother
exclaimed as she took the clothes and headed to the laundry room. "What's
going on, Emily?"

"I have to catch a flight to Sydney
in a couple of hours," I called as I hopped into the shower and quickly
washed my hair. "I need to get ready to fly!"

"Well, it's a good thing I washed and
pressed this last night, isn't it?" my mother said as she entered the
bathroom holding my flight uniform.

"Oh Mom, you're the greatest!" I
cried as I peeked out from behind the shower curtain to see her hanging the
uniform on the back of the bathroom door. "Now, can you get the rest of my
stuff ready to go?"

"Of course I can," she laughed
as she walked out of the bathroom. "I'm your mother, I can work
miracles."

Over the next few days I would wonder if
that weren't actually true.

Chapter
Thirty-Three

Austin

The
meeting with Daniel was tense, as I'd expected it would be, but it was cut
short by Bax's announcement that the car was waiting for me downstairs.

"Where are you headed, Austin?"
Daniel asked suddenly very interested in my movements.

"Just off to check out a possible
investment spot," I said casually. He'd find out sooner or later where I
actually was, but I wanted to keep him guessing for a bit. "And maybe take
a little time for some r and r."

"That's good," he said as he
gave me a smile that did not reach his eyes. "You young folks should take
time to enjoy what you have."

I knew he was implying that I should do so
before I lost everything, but today, I wasn't biting. I had other business to
take care of and engaging in a pissing match with Daniel Wentworth wouldn't
solve the problem in Sydney. I smiled back at him and then gathered up my
papers and moved to the door of the conference room where Johanna waited with
my briefcase and a cup of hot coffee in a travel mug.

"Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure, but
I need to get going," I said as I nodded and walked out of the room. I
smiled at Johanna and then looked at Bax. "Ride with me downstairs?"

"Sure thing, boss," he smiled. I
filled him in on the meeting on the way down, and he told me about the
developments on the site.

"Austin, you just need to get there
and stop them from striking," he said. "You don't have to work
miracles, you just have to restore the peace."

"I'll do my best," I assured
him.

"No, you have to do better than that
this time, Austin," he said seriously. "I'm not kidding, if this
explodes, we may not get another chance to turn thing around before Daniel
takes the operation over to Berlin and begins building. If he does that while
we fiddle away in Sydney, we'll lose it all."

"I get it, Bax," I said in an
irritated tone. "I'm going to move heaven and earth to make sure this
doesn't go under."

"Alright, well, just do what you
can," he said backing off a little. "No pressure."

"Oh no, no pressure at all," I
replied.

"Well, maybe just a little." He
grinned as he playfully slugged my shoulder. "Good luck, boss."

Chapter
Thirty-Four

Emily

My
mother had washed my clothes and packed my bag by the time the car arrived to
take me to the airport. I hugged her tightly and thanked her for her help.

"Emily, I love you, baby," she
said as she patted my cheek. "I know you'll do the right thing."

I nodded, unsure of what that actually
was, but I didn't know what to say other than, "I love you, too,
Mom."

At the airport, the car drove past the
usual stops and pulled up next to a plane already out on the runway outside of
the commercial area. The driver got out and opened my door before popping the
trunk and grabbing my bag. I looked up at the Boeing 727 painted with the Marks
Air logo in red on a black background, and I marveled at its sleek design as I
climbed the stairs.

Once on board, the captain and his
co-pilot introduced themselves and I waited for the other crewmembers to
arrive. There would be two flight attendants, a cook, and a personal baggage
handler assigned to the flight, the latter two would all stay in the back of
the cabin during the flight unless needed. My heart jumped when I heard a
familiar voice calling, "Hey, hey, hey, Princess! Ready for a second trip
down under?" Trish's smiling face appeared at the top of the stairs. I
wouldn't be the only one responsible for Austin during the flight.

"Trish!" I cried as I ran across
the cabin to throw my arms around her and hug her tightly. "I'm so glad
you're here!"

"Yeah, me too," she said as she
looked around and took in the surroundings. "I wasn't sure I was going to
make it. What were they thinking calling us at the last minute?"

"I don't know, but it must be
important if they brought us back so quickly," I said.

"Nice digs," she said followed
by a low appreciative whistle. "Where's the galley?"

"Back here," I said as I led her
back to the fully stocked kitchen and our quarters. On this flight, we'd have
our own room complete with table, chairs, and two twin beds. It was like a
hotel suite in the air. Trish nodded as she set her carry on bag on the bed I
hadn't claimed and smiled at me.

"Alright, Princess, let's get started
on prep work!" she said cheerfully.

I worked on prepping the main cabin while
Trish focused her attention on the kitchen and food prep. I checked overhead
bins for blankets and pillows and double-checked the storage cabinets below the
couch for extras of everything just in case Austin was bringing guests. I
hadn't been able to stop thinking about him since we'd kissed in the penthouse,
but I also remembered the woman he had been with in the hotel lobby and I
steeled myself in case he boarded the plane with the beautiful woman.

He's
a playboy who knows no loyalty. He just wants what he wants when he wants it,
I reminded myself as I went about setting up the cabin the way that Trish had
taught me.
He didn't care about me; he
just wanted a piece of ass.
I repeated over and over until I felt certain
that I had immunized myself against the considerable charm and magnetism of Mr.
Austin Marks.

Once I'd prepped the cabin for his arrival
and Trish had made sure that there were a wide variety of his favorite
beverages in the fridge and that all the meals he might want had been
delivered, we stood back and admired the beauty of the cabin's layout. It was
done in simple design lines and had a light airy feeling, not something that
was easy to do in the small space. I checked to make sure that all of the tray
tables and seats were in working order and then I stood in the galley and
breathed deeply as I awaited the arrival of my boss and his entourage.

"I've never seen anything like this
in my life," Trish whispered. "It's insane that anyone could have so
much money that they could do this to an airplane, isn't it?"

I nodded, grateful that Trish was here
with me as we waited for Austin to arrive.